A Colorado man is suing a book author, claiming he was duped by the author's poem that contained clues to a lost treasure chest.

David Harold Hanson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, sued Forrest Fenn in U.S. District Court. Hanson is seeking $1.5 million, claiming Fenn deprived him of the treasure "by fraudulent statements." According to news reports, Fenn proffered a 24-line poem in his autobiography, "The Thrill of the Chase", that allegedly holds clues to the location of a treasure chest hidden in the Rocky Mountains. It's been reported that an estimated 350,000 people have gone in search of the treasure.

Hanson claims he followed the clues and arrived at the location where the hidden items were, but only after Fenn first issued "misleading clues" that led Hanson away from the the search area and then issued "additional clues" that benefitted someone else who "found the items in question."

Fenn, an 89-year-old Vietnam War veteran, says he hid a chest full of valuable goods in the wilderness in an effort to get people outdoors.

The search for Fenn’s treasure has spawned an annual Fennboree gathering of campers at Hyde Memorial State Park, at least two documentary films and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles.

Fenn told news sources he was unaware of the lawsuit and has “received no correspondence from him [Hanson] that I know of.” He said the treasure remains where he hid it ten years ago.

Hanson said in his complaint that he came up with the $1.5 million figure because it is half of the lowest publicized amount of the value of the treasure chest’s belongings — $3 million.

He said once the real amount is discovered, “said sum may be significantly adjusted.”

—Source: Santafenewmexican.com